The 46th session of the National Assembly saw a positive development in the passage of a private member’s bill brought by a member of the opposition, however low attendance and participation persisted and 82% of the regular agenda was left unaddressed.
Brought by a male PMLN member, the Abolition of Discretionary Quotas Bill was passed unanimously to ensure fair and equitable allotment of plots in housing schemes during the last sitting, as a maximum of 155 members were present at one point out of the total membership of 341.
Low attendance and participation were noted throughout the session as less than half of the total membership was present during all eight sittings; the Speaker was absent throughout, while other key figures such as the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and parliamentary leaders were absent throughout or up to half of the total sittings, according to headcounts taken by FAFEN observer. Only 33 members participated in the proceedings through submission of agenda items such as calling attention notices, bills, resolutions, etc. while 111 (a third of the total membership) took part in on-floor debates. A mere nine legislators participated in both activities.
Due to the combined factors of unforeseen national events requiring urgent attention and ambitious agenda setting, 82% of the 125 agenda items on the orders of the day, including bills, resolutions, calling attention notices, motions, etc. were not taken up. Regular agenda was suspended during the fourth sitting due to the unanimous adoption of a resolution condemning the Malala Yousafzai shooting which resulted in a debate lasting an hour and 33 minutes, whereas all agenda was taken up during the fifth sitting, yet 102 agenda items were not taken up during the session. Interestingly, 66% of the 125 agenda items were on the orders of the day during the two private members’ days (the third and eighth sittings).
However, the assembly’s output is evident from the passage of three government bills – the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan Bill, the Provincial Motor Vehicles Bill and the Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan Bill 2012 in addition to the private member bill mentioned above. Two other government bills, the National Accountability Commission Bill and the Investigation for Fair Trial Bill were introduced in the house as well. Seven resolutions, including those about the Malala Yousafzai shooting, petroleum prices, political reconciliation in Balochistan, eradication of polio, illegal broadcast of foreign channels and flow of obscene and blasphemous content via the internet etc. were also adopted.
In addition, legislators also participated in the oversight of the government, albeit a small percentage. Twenty nine parliamentarians submitted ten calling attention notices to the cabinet secretariat, capital administration and development authority, and the ministries of education and training, finance and revenue, interior, and petroleum and natural resources. Moreover, 46 MNAs addressed 290 questions (152 starred questions requiring oral answers and 138 un-starred requiring written answers only) to various ministries about their performance. More than two fifths of these questions (53 starred, and 70 un-starred) were taken up and responded by the relevant ministers.
More than a quarter of the total session time was consumed in raising 85 points of orders on some 39 issues, including problems specific to certain regions of the country, such as Balochistan, Sindh, and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, as well as dual nationality, natural calamities and the imposition of the local government ordinance in Sindh. The latter was also the reason behind a 48 minutes walkout by the opposition PMLN during the third sitting.
For complete report click here
